an interesting discovery... dimarzio?!

rand z · February 14th, 2006, 12:14 PM

ive been experimenting with various pups and "brands" of pups. for a few years, now. many of them due to recommendations from the good participants on this forum.

my experience, after trying: duncans, duffs, harmonic design, carvins, dimarzio, lawrence and danelectro, is that i really like dimarzios!!!

as with another participant here, i find it rather surprizing and wonder how this can be?!?!

all of these pups that ive tried have their own "vibe" and applications, depending on the style of music that you play and "how" you play... your style. all are very good and usable.

but, for instance, i picked up b/n twang kings for a new tele ($50.00 ea), and found the neck pup to be "very" similar to a duff neck ($80.00 ) pup that i had made to sound stratish. now, i would say the duff has a bit more umph; but the sounds of each neck pup is very, very similar. (i a/b 'd them in two different teles).

in another tele i replaced an air norton (dimarzio) with a hd z-90 in the neck position. the z-90 is very powerful and rich and somewhat on the bassy side. the dimarzio was sonically woody, and rich and open, and slightly sparkly. very nicely balanced... clean and clear. i was surprised at the difference. the dimarzio came with the guitar, and the z-90 was $100.00

i replaced the pups in two different squire '51's. one with bill lawrence pups (humbuckers), and the other with dimarzio virtual vintage solo pro buckers. the dimarzio's were slightly more expensive. once again, though bills are great pups, especially for the money, and i like the ma/pa thing... i believe that the dimarzios once again have that open clean, clarity and umph, that is sonically more to my taste.

i realize this is all taste, but i really thought that there would be a MAJOR difference in some of these "hand wound" pups that the massed produced ones really, just wouldnt have.

interesting...

all imho.

rand z (tropicalsoul.net)

Rich Rice · February 14th, 2006, 12:27 PM

And nobody can tell you what "your" sound should be... I learned a long time ago (before all these pickup makers were available- probably before some of them were born-) to judge a pickup by its characteristics, not its price tag, or the advertising hype associated with it. It's wonderful to have the choices now. Most nuances of tone are lost on general audiences, anyway. They are more for the individual who is creating the music. If a pickup "speaks" to you, then it's a great pickup- no matter where it was made, or by whom. By the way, I love DiMarzio pickups too... :D

TG · February 14th, 2006, 12:39 PM

It often doesn't make sense what pickup suits you and a certain guitar the best.
A strat I had awhile back went thru loads of good pickups before I decided to go back to a cheapo set of Mighty Mite alnicos I got off ebay for about 30 bucks.
And just yesterday I put a Mighty Mite tele bridge pickup in my modded Squier 51. It's attached directly to the body and so far it seems fine. It certainly sounds better than I'd expect from the 12 bucks it cost me.
I might try a better quality tele bridge pickup since this little experiment seems to have worked, but I won't be surprised if I get a Duncan off ebay, try it and then go back to the MM.
(This is why I like ebay. I can try things out and then sell them on for a bit less than I paid if they don't suit me. I consider the money I lose 'rent'.)

nic'o'caster · February 14th, 2006, 06:43 PM

Call me crazy but the best complement for a Lollar Special bridge I have found is a diMarzio Twang King neck ! Wonderful middle position too !

yegbert · February 14th, 2006, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TG

And just yesterday I put a Mighty Mite tele bridge pickup in my modded Squier 51. It's attached directly to the body and so far it seems fine.

Hey TG, I saw your '51 in the gallery, I like what you had done with it so far. I'd like to hear more about that mod - details how you mounted the pup to the body, and what you did with the pickguard or other aesthetic treatments to complement that mounting.

TG · February 15th, 2006, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yegbert

Quote:

Originally Posted by TG

And just yesterday I put a Mighty Mite tele bridge pickup in my modded Squier 51. It's attached directly to the body and so far it seems fine.

Hey TG, I saw your '51 in the gallery, I like what you had done with it so far. I'd like to hear more about that mod - details how you mounted the pup to the body, and what you did with the pickguard or other aesthetic treatments to complement that mounting.

OK.
Like the other 2 pickups, it's fixed to the body by screws and springs. I installed it straight, i.e., parallel to the other pickups, because I would have had to do more routing to angle it. And, as this little guitar tends towards brightness, I didn't feel the need for any more treble so straight is fine with me.
I've orderred another sheet of pickguard material and I'll set the pickup heights before putting the guard on around the pickups. I'll try to do a tidy job. The one I have on now was just hacked out as I did the various mods.
Here's a picture as it is now...

So what I've concocted is a great little tele player's strat. It has a lightweight hardtail strat body with a tele neck, tele-ish controls (3-way to the front, volume behind with the push/pull switch accessing the middle pickup), a tele bridge pickup and 2 tele neck pickups. Even has the input jack on the side. :)

And soundwise it's pretty cool too. The GFS FatTele neck pickup sounds much like a strat neck pickup (which it basically is). The Mighty Mite bridge pup is far nicer than I expected for the price, and even mounted on the body rather than in a tele bridgeplate it sounds 'right'. I A/Bed against my teles yesterday and it's fine. Not thin or shrill at all. It's clear and twangy but gutsy and well balanced with plenty of low-end grunt. I can't believe it was so cheap. But maybe it just works in this guitar (the GFS neck pup does too, even though it sucked in my other teles). I only got it as a cheap experiment, but it's staying in, I think. I'm not even going to try anything else.
Anyway, the 3 main 'tele' settings sound great and the middle position is hum-cancelling, it turns out.

Accessing the middle pickup (an uncovered US Fender tele neck pup) with the push/pull adds the stratty quack settings as expected. With the GFS neck pup it's hum-cancelling, but with the MM bridge pup the hum is doubled. Oh well.

I'll put a photo in the gallery when I get the pickguard sorted. Probably in a week or 2.

February 14th, 2006, 12:14 PM	#1 (permalink)
rand z Tele-Holic Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 998	an interesting discovery... dimarzio?! ive been experimenting with various pups and "brands" of pups. for a few years, now. many of them due to recommendations from the good participants on this forum. my experience, after trying: duncans, duffs, harmonic design, carvins, dimarzio, lawrence and danelectro, is that i really like dimarzios!!! as with another participant here, i find it rather surprizing and wonder how this can be?!?! all of these pups that ive tried have their own "vibe" and applications, depending on the style of music that you play and "how" you play... your style. all are very good and usable. but, for instance, i picked up b/n twang kings for a new tele ($50.00 ea), and found the neck pup to be "very" similar to a duff neck ($80.00 ) pup that i had made to sound stratish. now, i would say the duff has a bit more umph; but the sounds of each neck pup is very, very similar. (i a/b 'd them in two different teles). in another tele i replaced an air norton (dimarzio) with a hd z-90 in the neck position. the z-90 is very powerful and rich and somewhat on the bassy side. the dimarzio was sonically woody, and rich and open, and slightly sparkly. very nicely balanced... clean and clear. i was surprised at the difference. the dimarzio came with the guitar, and the z-90 was $100.00 i replaced the pups in two different squire '51's. one with bill lawrence pups (humbuckers), and the other with dimarzio virtual vintage solo pro buckers. the dimarzio's were slightly more expensive. once again, though bills are great pups, especially for the money, and i like the ma/pa thing... i believe that the dimarzios once again have that open clean, clarity and umph, that is sonically more to my taste. i realize this is all taste, but i really thought that there would be a MAJOR difference in some of these "hand wound" pups that the massed produced ones really, just wouldnt have. interesting... all imho. rand z (tropicalsoul.net)

February 14th, 2006, 12:27 PM	#2 (permalink)
Rich Rice Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: In a dream world.. Just ask my wife. Age: 53 Posts: 2,555 11 Photos	Tone is subjective... And nobody can tell you what "your" sound should be... I learned a long time ago (before all these pickup makers were available- probably before some of them were born-) to judge a pickup by its characteristics, not its price tag, or the advertising hype associated with it. It's wonderful to have the choices now. Most nuances of tone are lost on general audiences, anyway. They are more for the individual who is creating the music. If a pickup "speaks" to you, then it's a great pickup- no matter where it was made, or by whom. By the way, I love DiMarzio pickups too... :D __________________ Please visit my website! If you are driven to play, you will find a way.

February 14th, 2006, 12:39 PM	#3 (permalink)
TG Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Beside a bog in the west of Ireland Age: 47 Posts: 4,464 7 Photos	It often doesn't make sense what pickup suits you and a certain guitar the best. A strat I had awhile back went thru loads of good pickups before I decided to go back to a cheapo set of Mighty Mite alnicos I got off ebay for about 30 bucks. And just yesterday I put a Mighty Mite tele bridge pickup in my modded Squier 51. It's attached directly to the body and so far it seems fine. It certainly sounds better than I'd expect from the 12 bucks it cost me. I might try a better quality tele bridge pickup since this little experiment seems to have worked, but I won't be surprised if I get a Duncan off ebay, try it and then go back to the MM. (This is why I like ebay. I can try things out and then sell them on for a bit less than I paid if they don't suit me. I consider the money I lose 'rent'.)

February 14th, 2006, 06:43 PM	#4 (permalink)
nic'o'caster Tele-Meister Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: SwLd Age: 41 Posts: 351	Call me crazy but the best complement for a Lollar Special bridge I have found is a diMarzio Twang King neck ! Wonderful middle position too !